Imran Khan, Pakistan Chief Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) maintains talks with reporters after voting in a polling station during the general election in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 25, 2018 (Photo: T. MUGHAL, EPA-EFE)

ISLAMABAD – A suicide bomber struck near a crowded polling station in the city of Quetta, southwest of Pakistan, killing 31 while Pakistanis voted Wednesday for a general election. The attack in Quetta, the provincial capital of Baluchistan, also wounded 35 people and several of them were in critical condition, raising fears that the death toll will continue to rise. , according to a hospital official. Jaffar Kakar, a doctor

A witness who was waiting for his ballot, Abdul Haleem, said he saw a motorcycle enter the crowd of voters just seconds before the blast. Haleem's uncle was killed in the blast.

"There was a deafening crash followed by a thick cloud of smoke and dust and so much crying on the part of the wounded," he told the Associated Press. The Wednesday bombing

Baluchistan also experienced the worst violence during the election campaign that month, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a political rally , killing 149 people, including candidate Siraj Raisani. 400 others were injured. Voting in this constituency was suspended

For more information: At least 74 people were killed in Pakistan.

For more information: Cricket star The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Baluchistan has been under constant attack by secessionists of the province and the Sunni militants who killed hundreds of Shiites living there. . In recent years, the ISI affiliate in the region has emerged as a major force behind the violence, often using local Sunni radicals from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to carry out its attacks.

Citing security concerns, the Pakistan Election Commission announced that Internet and mobile phone services in several districts of Baluchistan have been suspended. Election commission secretary Babar Yaqub said threats were made against polling stations, staff and even candidates.

Activists threw grenades and fired on a military convoy escorting election officials from Turbat District in Baluchistan. At the request of the electoral commission, the Pakistani army deployed 350,000 soldiers throughout the country to polling stations.

On Wednesday, police said that a shootout between supporters of two opposing political parties killed one person and injured two others. near the northwestern town of Swabi. Later, other clashes between rival political parties killed another person and injured 15 others across the country.

Earlier voting was heavy in some polling stations in Islamabad, the capital and in the provincial capital of Punjab.

Rights groups have warned that a vindictive campaign and numerous allegations of manipulation are jeopardizing the move to unprecedented participation in these elections by radical religious groups, including those banned for ties but resuscitated and renowned, has also raised concerns – especially for minorities and women – ahead of Jibran Nasir, an independent candidate from the Pakistani financial center of Karachi, said he has received death threats and even a fatwa, or religious edict, issued against him after refusing to condemn Ahmadis, insulted by Muslims as heretics because they believe that the promised messiah in Islam happened more than a century ago . Pakistan declared non-Muslim Ahmadis in 1974. "I speak on behalf of the millions of Pakistanis who are too afraid to confront religious fanaticism," Nasir said, adding that no arrests have occurred. was made of those who threatened him.

The main candidates for Wednesday's polls are former cricket star Imran Khan and his party in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and the Muslim League of Pakistan, the party of disgraced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in prison serving 10 years on charges of corruption. His younger brother Shahbaz Sharif took control of the party.

Khan's followers watered his vehicle with rose petals while he arrived to vote in a polling station near his suburb in Islamabad. After voting, he called on the Pakistanis to vote massively "to save future generations".

The third party in the running is the Pakistan People's Left Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto, the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, murdered by the Pakistani Taliban, whom she had promised to 39; eradicate.

Electoral authorities say more than 11,000 candidates run for 270 seats in the Pakistani legislature and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies.

The 85,307 polling stations opened at 8:00 am and will continue for 10 hours, an hour longer than in the 2013 elections. Voting for two parliamentary seats and six seats in provincial assemblies was postponed due to of attacks against candidates or disqualifications. Early results are expected early Thursday

There are more than 105 million eligible voters in Pakistan, 59 million men and 46 million women.

The Pakistani Electoral Commission reminds candidates that their elections will be canceled if women's participation does not reach 10 percent. This requirement was imposed after the 2013 elections, when several regions banned the vote of women, mainly in northwestern Pakistan, religiously conservative. Some candidates were elected without a single woman casting a vote.

The commission released its recall Tuesday after veteran rights activist Tahira Abdullah said local jirgas from 60 regions of the country, representing 16 different constituencies, had signed. agreements prohibiting women from voting despite the new decision. While some regions refused to give in, others allowed women to vote

In northern Waziristan, in northern Pakistan, where Taliban insurgents found shelter, women voted for the first time on Wednesday said Mohamad Ayaz Khan. , administrator of the government.

"We did the story today," Khan said. "It's the first time women have come out of their homes to vote."

Voting is isolated throughout Pakistan, even with only one polling station divided between men and women, including separate election officials.

after the end of the poll, the results should be known early Thursday, according to election officials.

International and national election observers will monitor the vote. The Election Observation Mission of the European Union has 120 observers in the polling stations of the main centers of Pakistan, with the exception of Baluchistan

According to Pakistani law, separate seats are reserved to non-Muslim women and minorities, who represent 4% of

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The Associate Writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad, Abdul Sattar in Quetta in Baluchistan, Zaheer Babar in Lahore Adil Jawad in Karachi Pakistan and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan contributed to this report.

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